Tell Me on a Sunday

[Christopher Lippolt]

Posted: 1/26/18 at 8:14am

I just listened to Tell Me on a Sunday last night. Although it is a bit dated, it is still a great vehicle for a talented actress/singer.
We have so many great and talented women out there. It would be great to see some perform this material.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 1/26/18 at 10:50am

Christopher Lippolt said: "I just listened to Tell Me on a Sunday last night. Although it is a bit dated, it is still a great vehicle for a talented actress/singer.
We have so many great and talented women out there. It would be great to see some perform this material."

 

In what way do you find it dated?  I don't recall any topical references in the lyrics, but I could be wrong.

 

[Christopher Lippolt]

Posted: 1/26/18 at 11:34am

They lyrics are not dated at all. You are correct. Some of the arrangements seem very specific to the time it was originally done. But that is minor. It’s still a great gem of a one woman vehicle

[Wildcard]

Posted: 1/26/18 at 2:53pm

Which version did you listen to? There is a recording with Denise Van Outen that had been updated.

[chernjam]

Posted: 1/26/18 at 3:03pm

Wildcard said: "Which version did you listen to? There is a recordingwith Denise Van Outen that had been updated."

Yeah it's always surprised me that this revision never made it over here.  Particularly with it being a NY story.  Maybe a smaller theatre like the Hudson for a limited run or something?

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 1/27/18 at 12:23am

SONG AND DANCE with Bernadette Peters is a favorite cast album of mine. I do't find it dated at all...

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 1/27/18 at 6:03am

I saw the Van Outen revival and very much enjoyed it. It must have been a decade ago because I remember seeing it and going to Virgin or some other music store (does any one remember those?) to buy the recording and listening to the cd on my portable CD player (...or remember those) while traveling through the UK!!

I don’t feel the show is nececarilly dated (if anything, I feel dated....). But while I remember loving it at the time, I’ve listened to the recording recently and just find it rather stilted. ALW makes a few major contortions to fit in many lyrics. The story itself is fairly melodramatic, I’d almost feel embarrassed recommending it to friends.

Still, I’ll always hold a special place in my heart for this piece having fond memories of seeing it in London. I'm sure I’d find a way to sneak into a performance should a new production open in New York....and tell no one that I did!

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Posted: 1/27/18 at 9:35am

I’ve seen the show in many small, intimate theaters over the years.  It works well in this setting because it has the feel of a small gathering where someone is telling her story.  Some of the actresses used a talk/sing style that furthered that feeling.  I don’t know if I would enjoy it as much seeing it again in a larger theater.  I suppose I would . . . the experience would just be very different . . . and I certainly have very fond memories of the times I saw it on Broadway with Bernadette Peters and then Betty Buckley, and the road with Melissa Manchester.   (Betty Buckley and Melissa Manchester sang the score beautifully, and that alone was worth the price of admission, but neither came close to BB’s adorable mix of innocence and spunk.)

I think there are dated references throughout (for example, the Joan Collins line in English Girls), but that’s only an issue if there’s a pretence that the action takes place today.  None of these are relevant to the plot so they can be easily changed.  I don’t remember noticing anything the last time I saw it, so the licensed versions probably have all the updates. Anyone know who replaced Joan Collins in the English Girls lyric?

By the way, I will always prefer Song and Dance to Tell Me on a Sunday because I can’t imagine the piece without Unexpected Song and I’m a sucker for a happy ending!   Have they added Unexpected Song back to the licensed version of Tell Me On a Sunday when only the one-act is performed?

[tourboi]

Posted: 1/27/18 at 11:48am

Unexpected Song is in the updated version, and I believe in the stand-alone TMOAS version that is licensed -- if my memory is right, you actually license Song and Dance, with the option of only presenting the TMOAS portion. I remember that I chased the rights for the Van Outten version to do stateside for a while, and kept being told that at that time only the 80's Broadway version was available.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 1/27/18 at 2:35pm

This would work great as a one-night only BCEFA or Actors Fund performance, with a different "Emma" for each song --- similar to what the Actors Fund did with FUNNY GIRL.  The choices are endless --- Bernadette could open (or close) the show, Betty Buckley, Annaleigh Ashford, Marin Mazzie, Sutton Foster, Kristin Chenoweth, etc. etc.  Seth Rudetsky are you listening?